California Assembly Passes Bill to Extend $100 Million in Tax Credits

Focus shifts to Senate where similar bill, stuck in committee, is expected to be heard next week.

A bill to extend for two years $100 million of annual tax credits -- designed to keep movie and television production in California -- easily won approval Thursday in the Assembly.

After being approved by a vote of 70 to 4, the focus now shifts to the state Senate, where a companion bill is still working its way through committee. The next hearing on the bill is expected sometime next week.

A coalition of Hollywood unions, guilds and associations in a statement applauded passage of AB 2026, the California Film & Television Tax Credit Program, which was introduced by Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, D-Sylmar. The coalition said the bill will ensure “that tens of thousands of skilled and talented Californians can continue to work in the state’s heritage industry -- entertainment -- and that the entertainment industry can continue to be an integral part of California’s economy.”

The coalition, which includes SAG-AFTRA, the DGA, Teamsters Local 399, IATSE and musicians local 47, also said in a statement: “Without the extension, the state of California will have no chance of competing with more than 40 states and many foreign countries that offer generous incentive programs to retain and attract qualified motion pictures and television programs, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of middle-class jobs and all the ancillary economic benefits that a thriving entertainment industry brings to the economy.”

The bill could face a more difficult environment in the Senate, where SB 1167 -- introduced by Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello -- has been on suspension in the Appropriations Committee since Aug. 7. It was in the Senate that the term of the bill was cut from five to two years, forcing the Assembly to lower the term in their version.